Julius fischer



J FISCHER PIRE ESCAPE AND ALARM.

No, 65.194. Patented May 28, 1867.

@einen tait-es strut @ffice IMPROVED FIRE-ESCAPE AND ALARM.

@te gelabelt referat tu in tlgiss'cttfrs tisnt ant uniting and nf'tlgt stmt TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:

Be it known that I,JUL1Us FISCHER, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Fire-Alarm and Life-Saving Apparatusg and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, the same letter of reference designating the same part of apparatus in both figures.

The object of this invention is to provide a ready means for the inmates of a house to save their lives if the building should be on tire; and in case the fire should happen in the night time, when all the inmates, perhaps, are asleep, and the tire should be discovered by the police, firemen, or other outside people, to afford them facilities for making an alarm in the house to' warn the inmates, while at the same time the life-saving apparatus is brought in readiness for use.

The nature of this invention consists in providing a chain ladder, the upper end of which is attached to a windlass upon which it may be wound, so that it will be out of sight and not disiigure the building, and attaching to the lower end of the said chain ladder a small chain, which may hang down close to thc house when the chain ladder is wound up, so that in case of necessity the chain ladder may be drawn down by means of this small chain by a person below or in anystory of the building. It further consists in providing a sliding frame, which shall keep the chain ladder, when it is lowered, a proper distance from the house for convenience of descending; this sliding frame working automatically, so that when the chain ladder is lowered the sliding frame will be drawn forward, and'wnen the chain ladder is wound up the sliding frame will withdraw and allow the lower end of the chain ladder to be brought close to the house. It further consists in connecting the windlass with an alarm bell or alarm bells, one of which may be in every room of the building, so that the unwinding of the chain ladder shall cause the bells to be set in motion and warn the inmates of the house.

To enable others skilled in the art te make and use my invention, I will further explain its construction and operation with reference to the drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the irealarm and life-saving apparatus placed at the top of a house, rep resenting the chain ladder unwound and hanging down, and the windlass connected with an alarm bell.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the same, representing the chain ladder wound upon thc windlass, and a small chain hanging down.

Although the apparatus is represented as being placedon the top of a building, this is not absolutely necessary; it may be placed in the upper story, so that it will be hidden almost entirely from view outside.

A A', iig. 1, are two standards connected by two traverse pieces a a', the whole forming a substantial support for a shaft, B,'which is fitted into the upper ends of the standards with proper'besrings, so that it will turn freely. C, iig. 1, is a crank attached to one end of the shaft B, by means of which this shaft can be made t0 revolve, thus forming a windlass. The wheel D, g. 1, and pin b attached to the other end of the shaft B, form n crank, which is connected with an alarm bell, P, fig. 1, by means of a wire or connectingrod, c, fig. 1. Although but one bell is shown, connections may be made with as many bells as may be deemed necessary. E E', lig. 1, are round disks or llangcs attached to the `shaft B inside of the standards A A. Between these disks the upper cud of a chain ladder, F, is firmly secured to the shaft B. This chain ladder F consists of two iron chains :i d', iig. l, which are connected at proper intervals by strong iron rods e'securely fastened therein with their ends. These rods e form the steps ofthe ladder. A weight, G, is attached to the lower end of the ladder, so as to give steadiness to the ladder when hanging down; yet this weight is not absolutely4 necessary, as the lower end of the ladder may be held by persons below, and thus give firmness to it. Hui-l', g. 1, are the sides of a sliding,

frame; these sides are connected at thc front end by means of a traverse piece, f. This sliding frame is tted between the standards A A at an incline, in such a manner that it will slide forward and downward, and cz'cc versa, and the sides H H are held and guided by means of boxes or fixtures y g,'g. l., for that purpose attached to the standards A A. The sides H H of the sliding frame are at their upper ends each provided with a stop, h, to keep them in their proper place. The chain ladder F passes over the traverse piece f. The lower end of the ladder has an iron rod, z', extending beyond the chain at both ends, forming two projecting studs la k', tig. 1. Two springs l l are attached to the upper part of the building, one at each end of and just below the traverse piece f. These springs are so constructed that they will retain the studs k Ic when they are drawn into them, and ailow'them to be' drawn out again. I is a small chain, one end of which is attached to the lower end of the chain ladder, and the other end of the small chain is attached to the lower part of the house, and may there he confined in a box, which in case of necessity could easily be opened. When the chain ladder is beingwound upon the windlass the sliding frame H Hf will draw back, and the studs k k of thel lower end of the ladder will enter'into the springs l Z and prevent the ladder unwinding itself. This will place nearly everything of the apparatus out of sight except the small chain, which will hang down close to the house, so that it will hardly be noticed. v

This apparatus may be placed in a position that the ladder will .come down between the windows, so that access to it may be had from the windows at either side. Should any fire occur in the night, when theinmates 4 of the house are all asleep, and-the tire should be discovered by aperson outside, then, to warn those inmates and to get the life-saving apparatus ready for use, will be but the work of a moment, for it will only be necessary to get access to the small chain I, and to draw down the chain ladder F, which, by its unwindin" from the windlass will set in motion all the bells in the house te which it is attached, awake the inmates, and they can then save their lives by this ladder if 'other' mea-ns of escape should have been out oli'. Should the fire be discovered by a person in' the house, then to give an alarm and to got the apparatus ready will only require to run tothe window and take hold of the chain I and pull down the chain ladder F. A

Having thus fully described' my irealarm and life-saving apparatus, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to havo secured to me by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. I claim the combination of an alarm bell'or alarm bells with a 'life-saving. apparatus, connected in such a manner that the life-saving apparatus, when being :nought in readiness to be used, will set the bell or bells in motion, for the purpose as herein fully described. v

2. I claim, in combination with the above, achain attached to the ladder, by means of which said ladder may be unwound from a windlass, for the purpose as herein described.

3. I claim the combination of a sliding frame with a. windlass and a chain ladder, the whole being constructed ind operating as and, for the purpose herein fully described and, set forth.

JULIUS FISCHER.

Witnesses:

REINHARD SCHADE, Fnsi). Orro Denman. 

